A 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Yesterday, I had the honor of attending my great-aunt Till and great-uncle Buddy's fiftieth wedding anniversary reception. It was absolutely elegant and inspiring. Their son, Mark, started with some trivia about the year they were married: 1961. It was interesting to me because I am currently teaching that decade in my U.S. History class:). They had a wonderful slide show with pictures from childhood to present day. My favorite part was seeing snapshots of their travels to places like Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Mexico, England, and Switzerland.
Of course, when I visit with Aunt Till, I think about her sister, my grandmother, who passed away nearly three years ago.
Before leaving, my sister said, "This makes you really think about parenting and wanting to do it right, doesn't it? You only get one chance." Indeed.

March 1961

My lovely aunt and uncle with their great nieces and great-great niece and nephew

my beautiful cousin, Michele

I think this is one of the best pic I have of these cousins:)

sisters with our babies

Awww....

I have been 'under the weather' for the past several days...sinus infection, stomach bug, ... Ron brought home dinner, flowers (I love snapdragons!) for me, my favorite candy, Ava's favorite candy, and a Disney princesses balloon for her. Soooooooo thoughtful! 

Barbecue Cook-Off 2010

Today was our second annual barbecue cook-off with our church. The teams are made up of your small group. It was lots of fun. And thank goodness it was not as hot as last year!! Ron LOVES to cook so he was thrilled about this event. The first few pics are of him in 'prep' mode. 

We brought lots of fans, extension cords, water, & lawn chairs to make it comfortable as possible! 

I wish I had gotten a picture of the silent auction baskets- incredible! For example, there was a date night basket to Texas de Brazil, a limo ride, and a babysitter ...

A band was set up for entertainment for all, and the kids got to enjoy the bounce houses.

We didn't win, but it was a great day!

I'm Having a Nephew!!

Yesterday, Brittany had the BIG ultrasound that we've been anxiously awaiting! My parents, Ron, Ava, and I met them along with Job's mom, aunt, & cousins at Chili's for the announcement! I had picked up two presents from Itty Bitty (the cutest children's boutique), one for a boy, one for a girl. They are having a BOY so she got to unwrap the sweet outfit, burp cloth, bib, paci-clip, and snack organizer from us. After eating lunch we went to Target to look at baby stuff. It was a fun day. I'm even more excited now because I can visualize him more. Also, I LOVE the name they chose: Reid.

Friends & Easter

Ava is at the age where she loves to have other children to play with; she cracks me up because she is so motherly! One of the families from our church came over last Saturday night for pizza & a movie. Jeff & Emily (who also does my hair: she's awesome!) have these two cute kiddos: Tuesday & Levi. Here they are watching The Incredibles.

I've been trying to remember to snap a pic before church each week too...
Ava LOVES "church nursery" so much (I wonder if it's because of the sucker they give out at the end:).

It's so hard to comprehend that one of my best friends since middle school & I have daughters exactly one month apart. Ava had a great time playing with Mary Abbott.

Ava looks so much like me, and Mary Abbott looks so much like Niki!

Our church had a huge Easter egg hunt Saturday...

Family pic at the hunt...It was fun! We enjoyed hanging around for a little while and visiting with friends.

Well, I let Ava have an Easter cupcake for breakfast Sunday morning. Gotta live a little sometimes!

I love this outfit! Niki's sister Mandy has the cutest children's clothing store ever! I help Mandy do some decorating at her new home, and instead of paying me cash--I get to pick out outfits like this for Ava:)

My parents came after to church to have an Easter cookout with us. It was so much fun. Ron is such a good griller! Our menu was barbecued chicken, garlic & cheese mashed potatoes, green beans, garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette, homemade yeast rolls, sweet tea, & "bunny" cake for dessert. Yum!

This is one of my favorite pictures! Ava was telling Mimi all about her fingernail polish (she was upset that one of her nails chipped-ha!).

Mimi & Papa brought her a basket full of goodies; her favorite was the playdough.

One of my mom's friends helped her make this cute cake!

After a leisurely lunch, we all went outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Then, the four of us played a Wii bowling game. It was so funny because my parents are not the video game types but they were really good at this game. I was terrible:(

Ava cheered each time we bowled, which was a lot, considering four people had ten rounds. She was exhausted and went to sleep when her head hit the pillow. I am thankful for my family and friends and such a good Easter weekend.

Our pastor's sermon on Sunday was "What if you knew you only had one month to live? What would you do differently? Live a life with no regrets." I'm certainly going to try!

Farm Fun

I'm so thankful that Ron has been off work a lot more often on Saturdays!! Today was a great day. After my yard sale & mom/sister time, I went back to sleep until noon! Then we took Ava to Cedar Hill Farm (http://www.cedarhfarm.com) for a fun afternoon of walking, riding a "train," petting zoo, meeting the Easter Bunny, hay ride, & Easter egg hunt. It's a great place to go especially in the fall to the pumpkin patch...

This was Ava's first Easter egg hunt.

She was fascinated at the colored chickens & ducks. We brought home an orange one and call him (?) Pumpkin. The chick will be going to Mimi & Papa's house on Monday morning to live with their rooster! Ha.

Singing Chicken Show

The weather was beautiful!

I am so blessed.